Fully funded 3-year PhD starting October 2024 - Covalent Ligands in Cancer

In this project, we will develop a new approach to targeting Myc-deregulated cancers by discovering changes in the reactivity and covalent ligandability of cysteine residues caused by c-MYC actively driving tumorigenesis. Using chemical proteomics, which exploits chemical probes for cysteine ligandability coupled to enrichment and high-throughput mass spectrometry proteomics, we can discover and quantify c-MYC-dependent changes across the entire proteome, including but not limited to c-MYC itself. 

This project would ideally suit candidates with a strong first degree in molecular sciences, for example chemistry, chemical biology, or medicinal chemistry. Whilst some prior experience in working with biological systems (cells, proteins) would be an advantage, training in all relevant techniques will be provided by the supervision team across Imperial College and Merck KGaA.

The project will be based primarily in the state of the art £200M Molecular Sciences Research Hub at Imperial’s White City Campus, with the opportunity to work with medicinal chemistry, chemical biology and molecular pharmacology teams at Merck in Darmstadt, Germany.

Studentships for October 2024 entry | Research groups | Imperial College London Application deadline 3rd June 2024.

 

PhD studentships 

Any students interested in pursuing postgraduate research in our group other than the studentships listed above should contact Professor Tate directly; all prospective applicants should have or expect to obtain a 1st class honours degree (or equivalent) in chemistry, biochemistry, or a closely related discipline; non-UK students must be able to obtain independent funding for their studies, e.g. via a government bursary. 

Postdoctoral opportunities

We welcome informal enquiries from potential postdoctoral fellows with outstanding research track records who are prepared to apply for independent research funding, for example from the European Union, HFSP, etc. Full assistance will be given in preparing a competitive research proposal; we have an exceptional track record in accelerating the careers of outstanding postdoctoral researchers, with six Marie Curie fellows in our lab in the past four years.